Does Jackson Have The Right Idea?
Angela’s post on Jesse Jackson calling Obama out on “Acting White” on the Jena Six issue inspires a few of my own musings. I don’t like the specific rhetoric, but would it really be a bad thing if the Black leadership and community started building in a concern for social justice and concern for those who “haven’t made it” into the idea of Blackness?
Certainly, if Black folk are going to chide their compatriots for certain behavior via the “acting White” epithet, I’d rather it be behavior we actually want them to eschew (avoiding speaking out against racism and social injustice) than behavior we want them to pursue (academic excellence, in the “stereotypical” “acting White” example) — although, as I explain in post, I don’t think “acting White” is really the best or proper way of putting it, necessarily.
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2 Responses to “Does Jackson Have The Right Idea?”
The eduaction thing is what I don’t get. Anyone that has a problem with learning is someone that you need to avoid.
The most troublesome part of phrasing this as ‘acting white’ is that it implies that all blalcks nustt endorse the sane solutions tio the problems in their community, speak in the same idiom, dress alike, etc.It’s a demand that Obama be a stereotype of Jackson’s choosing. Does he have to like watermelons?
That’s very limiting and counterproductive.
I think any group would be offended by the assertion that they’re all alike and think alike.
If Jackson, or anyone else has a problem with a particular statement or policy position Obama has taken, then he should address those issues, specifially.
“Acting white’ is a criticism that is insulting to blacks, IMO. I don’t think a